Jerry Jones: Dez Bryant is very vulnerable

Posted by Josh Alper on August 6, 2012, 10:00 AM EDT

AP

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is making sure that there isn’t any room for doubt about what he expects from wide receiver Dez Bryant going forward.

Jones has talked a lot about the thin string that Bryant is hanging from in the wake of his family violence arrest this offseason and he hammered the same point again on Sunday. Jones was asked about his harsh warnings for Bryant and after briefly joking about his threats to cut Bryant loose — “You know, just because I said it doesn’t make is so” — Jones went back to the well to make his point about Bryant’s status with the Cowboys at present.

“He’s screwed around here and got his benefit of the doubt collateral down to nothing,” Jones said, via Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com. “And he’s also very vulnerable. Now, you’ve got to act differently when you’re in those shoes. He’s got to gain a bunch of that back. He can do it, and he can do it right out on this football field. And I hope that he does.”

Bryant has been impressive on the field during training camp, McMahon references his “daily jaw-dropping displays of freakish athleticism” in the same piece as Jones’ quotes, and strong play is going to be the easiest way for Bryant to start banking some goodwill with the Cowboys. As Jones has admitted, great talent has overcome off-field indiscretions in the past in Dallas and elsewhere around the NFL.

Players who don’t turn that talent into great performances aren’t long for the league, regardless of the reason why they underperformed, so it is pretty clear what Bryant needs to do this season to stop the talk about his shaky footing in Dallas.

12 responses to “Jerry Jones: Dez Bryant is very vulnerable”

Jones was asked about his harsh warnings for Bryant and after briefly joking about his threats to cut Bryant loose — “You know, just because I said it doesn’t make is so”

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Actually it does. You are the owner/GM. If you told everyone in the Cowboys organization that they were fired, everyone would be fired. When it comes to internal matters regarding the cowboys, you have the final say.

It’s the Cowboys who are vulnerable when Dez Bryant is sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter because he’s out of shape and exhausted like last season. That’s when all they have left is the terrifying hopelessness that Romo won’t do something mind-bendingly, soul-crushingly, insanely stupid.

Sadly, when JJ equates Dez’s play on the field being related to his OFF-FIELD boorish and dangerous behaviors, he is teaching him the wrong lesson. Dez should learn to behave like a normal person and respect the rights of others regardless and separate from his progress as a WR. If the lesson taught is that all-star gridiron performance can be cashed in to erase inappropriate, self-centered behavior, then what exactly has Bryant learned? One of these days, his NFL career will be over. What will he do when he hasn’t learned logical consequences follow any behavior, and he can’t erase inappropriate actions with stellar play?

Maybe the Cowboys GM (JJ) would have been wise to ask more probing questions of Dez regarding his parents. Even though such questions might appear offensive (context not withstanding), it may have uncovered possible Mother/Son character dynamics that have now become problematic.

Oh wait, someone did ask such questions and that individual has been unmercifully ridiculed. At least that GM doesn’t have the current Dez question to deal with.